NHS Resource Centre: news round - up
Welcome to the Microsoft NHS Resource Centre’s seven day round up of the latest news from the NHS and the healthcare IT sector:
Healthcare Commission slams Mid Staffs trust:
The Healthcare Commission has issued a highly critical report following an investigation into high death rates at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. The watchdog found that between 400 and 1,200 more people than would have been expected died at the trust over a three year period, because of poor emergency care. It also found “appalling” standards of nursing care on some wards. A national investigation into “early warning systems” is underway.
• Read more on the E-Health Insider website:
• Find the full report on the Healthcare Commission website:
GP incentive scheme revamped:
Health minister Ben Bradshaw has announced changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), which pays GPs for delivering services and meeting national targets. From 1 April, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will oversee the yearly process of renewing the QOF and assess the cost-effectiveness of its indicators. Mr Bradshaw said the aim was to improve the quality of care delivered by GPs.
• Read the press release on the government’s News Distribution Services website:
Shake-up of professional regulation announced:
The Department of Health has published two papers about the future regulation of healthcare professionals. One paper sets out proposals for a new Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator, which will assess the fitness to practice of doctors and later other professions as well. The other sets out proposals to strengthen trust powers to tackle poor practice. The moves take forward a white paper published in 2007.
• Read the press release, which has links to both reports:
NHS in database state warning:
A report from privacy experts has raised concerns about Britain’s “database state”. The report for the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust warns that a quarter of the centralised databases set up by the government could break privacy or human rights laws. These include the detailed and summary care records being developed by the NHS, and the Secondary Uses Service, which extracts information from them for administration and research without explicit patient consent.
• Read the report: State - Executive Summary
And finally: swipe-cards pose infection risk:
The swipe-cards used by many NHS staff to access computer systems are a potential infection risk, according to research published in the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Clinicians at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn tested 39 swipe-cards and found that a fifth were contaminated by bacteria, including the “superbug” MRSA. A wipe down with alcohol solved the problem.
• Read the story on the Royal College of Surgeons website